Google Takedowns: Canadians Can Urinate on Their Passports But Thais Can't Insult Their King

Google has released its latest batch of data about requests by governments to either take down content or provide users' private information. The statistics, which Google has been releasing since 2010, show the volume of government requests has continued to grow.

Google has steadily expanded the amount of data released. Last month, Google began releasing copyright-related takedown statistics for its search engine. But the latest release, focused on requests by government, is compiled by hand and released every six months. The data covers the second half of 2011.

The report focuses on two different types of requests. The first category is requests for Google users' private data as part of criminal investigations. As in previous reporting periods, the United States led the pack. Law enforcement agencies here submitted 6321 requests for information about 12,243 accounts. Google compiled with 93 percent of the requests. India, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Germany rounded out the top five. Google complied with 90 percent of the Brazilian requests but only 45 percent of the requests in Germany.

On a per capita basis, Singapore led the list. The city-state of just 5 million people submitted 118 requests. France, the United Kingdom, and Australia also submitted more requests, per capita, than the United States. All other countries submitted fewer. Canada submitted just 41 requests; Japan only 90.

The second type of request seeks the removal of allegedly unlawful content. In addition to providing raw statistics, Google also disclosed details about which types of content were targeted and whether the content was removed.

For example, the Canadian passport office asked Google to remove a YouTube video depicting "a Canadian citizen urinating on his passport and flushing it down the toilet." Google refused to remove the video. Google also refused to remove videos that "satirized the Pakistan Army and senior politicians," search results that criticized the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, and blogs "referencing individuals and public figures" in Spain.

But Google was more accommodating in other cases. The government of Thailand continued to demand removal of YouTube videos for "allegedly insulting the monarchy in violation of Thailand's lèse-majesté law." Google says it blocked access to these videos from within Thailand to comply with local laws there. In Brazil, Google "received an electoral court order that resulted in the removal of four orkut profiles for content related to political campaigns." In Turkey, Google received several requests to remove videos about former Turkish President Atatürk.

It's important to be cautious in making cross-country comparisons using Google's data. Google's products enjoy differing levels of popularity in various countries, and Google competitors such as Facebook and Microsoft don't release comparable data. Many user data requests are directed toward telecom carriers like Verizon and AT&T rather than consumer web companies. And as Wired's Ryan Singel points out, the statistics likely exclude information requests that come with secrecy requirements, such as national security letters and requests under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. All of these factors mean that the data Google releases should be taken as at best an approximate indicator of the level of government data and takedown requests submitted during the period.

Still, Google deserves credit for its industry-leading transparency practices. While Google's data isn't perfect, it's much better than what other web companies offer. And Google rightly advocates reforming privacy laws along the lines suggested by the Digital Due Process coalition.